MidWest Outdoors connected with Minnesota fishing guide Tony Roach to learn more about his expectations for the coming winter fishing season on one of the state’s most popular ice fishing destinations: Lake Mille Lacs. Each winter, thousands of enthusiasts descend on this dynamic fishery to catch walleyes, which as Tony lays out in the interview below, have started to rebound in big numbers from several years of suppressed populations. Combined with a noticeable uptick in jumbo perch schools, the upcoming ice fishing season is looking stellar on Lake Mille Lacs.

MidWest Outdoors: Great to connect with you, Tony! Please give us your perspective on how Lake Mille Lacs walleye numbers are looking this year.

Tony Roach: Overall, it’s been a much better summer and fall for fishing than it has been the past few years, but what I’m most excited about are the sheer numbers of walleyes in Lake Mille Lacs right now. Compared to the prior year, it’s night and day. Last year, we had an overabundance of bait that contributed to the fishing being okay, but not great, and overall we didn’t see catches of a lot of different year classes. This year, the walleyes we are catching range in size from 8-inchers all the way up to 26-inchers, and you can catch fish pretty much anywhere along that size range. The fish fattened up on all that bait and grew fast, so now there’s a ton of fish from 13 to 17 inches, a bunch more from 17 to 20 inches, and good numbers of bigger walleyes as well. Up until last spring, it was a desert out there as far as bait for a couple of years, and I think that hurt the walleye populations. But now, with two years of good baitfish, the lake is super healthy. There have been decent baitfish numbers this year, but nothing like the boom last year, so fishing this year has been exceptional.

MWO: You’re seeing perch populations rebound in tandem, right?

Roach: That’s right. Last winter, we caught more jumbo perch in Mille Lacs than the last three winters combined, plus we were catching the occasional jumbo this summer and fall, too. The fall bite is always how I forecast the upcoming winter. For comparison, last fall’s bite was decent, not great, but I’d rate it ‘on par,’ and the winter bite was decent. This fall’s bite has been phenomenal, leaps and bounds above last year, so I’m super excited to get on Mille Lacs for ice fishing season! I predict it will be hot right out of the gate.

MWO: Tell us your strategy at first ice. What locations will you target first, and why?

Roach: This fall, a lot of walleyes were holding in the rocks and gravel areas, so I’ll start by checking secondary rock reefs adjacent to shoreline breaks. Some years, the shallow rocks don’t have walleyes at first ice, and you have to run all the way out to the mud to get on good fish, but that won’t be the case this year. Huge numbers of fish were shallow this fall, even on the sand breaks. At first ice, the sand transition and some of the weed lines close to shore can be good when you have a shallow walleye population lingering from the open-water season. Also in play will be the deeper gravel bars and rock humps a bit further offshore. So, the shoreline breaks will be the first spots I check at ice-up, in that 16- to 25-foot range.

MWO: What’s the water clarity been like this year?

Roach: Definitely more color in the water than there’s been in the past few years. This fall, you couldn’t see the bottom in five feet, which is abnormal because Mille Lacs is such a clear body of water due to the zebra mussels. I think that darker water contributed to better fall fishing as well. As far as after ice-up, water clarity will depend on how windy it is in the days leading up to freeze-over. If it’s calm and cold for a few days prior, the water could clear up a lot for ice fishing season. If the water retains some of its color for ice fishing season, that’s a good thing for walleye fishing.

MWO: Lake Mille Lacs is predicted to be a hot winter destination for walleyes this year, with the bonus of some good jumbo perch potential as well. Make plans now to fish one of Minnesota’s best fisheries.

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